Editing Reinforcement (section)

=== Gambling – variable ratio scheduling ===

{{Main|Gambling}}
As stated earlier in this article, a variable ratio schedule yields reinforcement after the emission of an unpredictable number of responses.  This schedule typically generates rapid, persistent responding. Slot machines pay off on a variable ratio schedule, and they produce just this sort of persistent lever-pulling behavior in gamblers.  Because the machines are programmed to pay out less money than they take in, the persistent slot-machine user invariably loses in the long run.  Slots machines, and thus variable ratio reinforcement, have often been blamed as a factor underlying gambling addiction.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Lozano Bleda JH, Pérez Nieto MA | title = Impulsivity, intelligence, and discriminating reinforcement contingencies in a fixed-ratio 3 schedule | journal = The Spanish Journal of Psychology | volume = 15 | issue = 3 | pages = 922–9 | date = November 2012 | pmid = 23156902 | doi=10.5209/rev_sjop.2012.v15.n3.39384| s2cid = 144193503 }}</ref>